What's on the Menu: 9/18 - 9/20

- Posted by Rusty


Lots of stuff coming out this weekend. Let's dig in and see what looks good...



1. “Bright Star” - This is getting a limited release, but it sounds like it’s really worth hunting down. From director Jane Campion, it’s the story of the poet John Keats’ relationship with the love of his life, Fanny Browne (played by Abby Cornish, who’s earning non-stop raves for this performance). I read a little bit of Keats in college, and I liked him quite a lot—plus, Writers-on-the-Brink-of-Inspiration movies (like “Finding Neverland”) are some of my favorites—the English nerd in me is just instantly drawn to them. It looks like a quiet, moving film—maybe not the best thing when you’d like some entertainment, but a good change of pace, and a chance to learn something new about a great poet (I know really little about his life, so this sounds really interesting to me). Cool fact: “Bright Star” is actually the title of one of Keats’ poems, and, supposedly, his best work came during this particular period of his life, when he was genuinely inspired by love. This could be an Academy Awards darling by year’s end.



2. “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” - This looks cute. Maybe not “rush-out-and-see-it” cute for me (although the 3D is a tempting argument), but some pleasant and hopefully funny entertainment for the family. Apparently the original children’s book is a beloved property (my friend totally geeked out earlier this summer, telling me all about the town of Chewandswallow!), and it’s nice to see something like that resonate (same with “Where the Wild Things Are”). This will be the story of a kooky inventor, and how his machine helps (and then hugely overburdens) his hungry town with food falling from the sky. Bill Hader, Anna Faris, and Andy Samberg lead the voice cast—that’s a hell of a good line-up of funny people, and the trailers look like a whole lot of fun. If it doesn’t dumb down the material for kids (a stupid practice to begin with—do kids love Pixar’s stuff and “Shrek” because they talk down to them?), we could be looking at a new family favorite—expect some big business in theaters and tons of “Cloudy” DVDs worn out at home by next year. The mostly positive reviews are a good sign too.



3. “Jennifer’s Body” - Ah, Megan Fox… You know, I’m still not sure where I stand on her (like that’s such an important issue—it requires major thinking!)—she’s undeniably gorgeous (maybe “too hot,” as my friend argued for not liking her), but, so far, we haven’t seen much from her as an actress. Then again, I like her ballsy, no-fear attitude in interviews—check out some of those—she’s not afraid to speak her mind, and she was the only “Transformers” cast member to admit that the sequel makes barely any sense. She might be stuck-up and overexposed like crazy, but I think she’s smarter than she lets on—at the very least, she’s definitely aware of her own image, and “Jennifer’s Body” could be a good way to play with that.

Well, if Fox wants to expand beyond “Transformers,” this might be a good start, with her first real leading role. From “Juno” writer, Diablo Cody, this horror-comedy mishmash follows Jennifer, a small-town high-school queen bee who, through some pretty creative circumstances (involving Adam Brody’s guy-liner-wearing rock star), becomes a man-eating demon. I have no idea how this might turn out—the reviews are all over the map—it could be clever and fun, or it could be an absolute, tonally bizzare mess. It does look original, and I’m a fan of Cody’s quirky, pop-culture-literate teen-speak. The trailer is pushing hard the “Megan Fox is hot” angle, but I have a feeling this movie has more to offer—Cody strikes me as too smart a writer to give us a by-the-numbers horror movie—she would relish the chance to skew the horror-movie female stereotypes, and the usually pretty stupid, have-sex-and-you-die conventions.

A friend of mine actually called me up a few days ago, and gave my favorite proposition to see this: “Dude, we should see the new Megan Fox movie…for your blog, of course!” Aha…thanks, man—appreciate the “professional” support! If I do see it, I’ll let you know right away—I’m actually pretty curious what the final product will be like.


4. “Love Happens” - Man, does this look corny…yet, sadly, I still kind of want to see it. I'm a big fan of Eckhart (the unsung hero in "The Dark Knight"—he was fantastic as Harvey Dent!), and Jennifer Aniston could do this kind of “supportive love-interest” role in her sleep (even though I wish she’d do more interesting projects by now). Eckhart’s a motivational speaker with Issues (Hollywood loves this: a man who can solve other people’s problems…but not his own!), and Jennifer Aniston is the troubled soul he connects with. Really, it just looks like two likeable stars falling in love, and I’m always a sucker for something like that. I don’t think it’ll be too big of a hit, but it looks like the type of movie that will thrive on DVD and cable. I’m guessing there will be tons of clichés and sappiness with jackhammer-like-subtlety, but, all in all, it feels like a perfectly harmless date movie. Reviews are middling, so maybe this one is best saved for a rental.



5. “The Informant!” - I loved the trailer for this one, and director Steven Sodebergh (“Out of Sight,” “Ocean’s 11”) is always interesting in my book. Based on a true story, Matt Damon plays a pudgy, maybe not-too-bright (or is he?) corporate snitch, with major secret-agent delusions and a way-too-bloated sense of importance. I like that Sodebergh is going for a more outright funny tone here—“true story” movies tend to be heavy and “important”…but it looks like the cast and crew are giving us something more creative and original here. I’m really looking forward to this—I might not catch it this weekend, but it’s a must-see for me. I’m guessing Matt Damon will get a lot of awards love for his totally committed turn (and the Oscars love it when good-looking people dirty up their looks somehow), and, judging by that entertaining trailer, “The Informant!” has a small chance of being a mainstream hit.

How about you guys? Are you planning on catching any of these movies this weekend?

Images courtesy of Apparition, BBC Films, Sony Pictures Animation, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Pictures.